A popular pub that was forced to close its doors three months ago has collapsed due to a staggering $1.2m debt, it has now emerged.
The Carringbush Hotel, located in Melbourne’s inner-northwest suburb of Abbotsford, permanently closed its doors on June 2.
Two days later the business was placed into liquidation and this month insolvency firm CJG Advisory published a report revealing the true extent of the pub’s downfall.
The venue had just 63 cents in its bank account when it collapsed, according to the report seen by news.com.au.
The pub owes $1.28 million to its creditors, of which $411,000 is owed to the Australian Taxation Office.
Liquidators warned that any repayment to creditors was unlikely.
The Carringbush Hotel underwent major renovations in 2019 but was hit hard by the Covid pandemic, liquidator Matthew Gollant said.
“Following the pandemic, a series of disputes between the business and the landlord of the premises led to a number of VCAT cases being brought against the business,” Gollant said.
The Carringbush Hotel, located in Melbourne’s inner-northwest suburb of Abbotsford, permanently closed its doors on June 2.
‘Faced with rising supply costs, the directors felt that the business might not be profitable and took steps to liquidate the company.’
Mr Gallant said it was possible the pub had been trading while insolvent since June 30, 2022.
“From that point on, the company incurred further debts totalling approximately $480,000,” he said.
The hotel suffered a loss of $460,000 between July 2021 and June 2023.
The property owner also claimed he had suffered damages and was owed $40,000.
Liam Matthews, 47, co-owner of the Carringbush Hotel, said the pub closed because of the “horrendous” cost of “everything” in the hospitality industry.
For the pub to survive, Mr Matthews calculated he would have had to raise the price of the pub’s most popular beer, Mountain Goat Lager, from $15 a pint to $20.
Mr Matthews previously told the AFR that the wages of the pub’s 20 staff had risen by eight per cent from 2022.
The pub also saw an increase in electricity bills from $1,500 in 2020 to about $2,000 a month and also noticed an increase in its insurance costs.
Mr Matthews added that the pub was also charged a $10 per keg beer delivery fee, a cost that did not exist before the pandemic.
The pub had just 63p in its current account at the time of its collapse, according to an insolvency report following its liquidation in June.